Ballad of Perseus
by ProwlSIC
Summary: Perseus' story, starting from when his grandfather (Acrisius) found out that his daughter (Danae) would have a son (Perseus) that would eventually kill him.


Acrisius, Father of Danae

.

Acrisius, son of Ablas and Agaea,

King of Argos,

Father of Danae

Had many sorrows,

.

He wanted a son,

And went to the Oracle

For an answer,

But found something horrible,

.

"O king,

The son of your daughter,

Will be your demise,

Yes, in some time he will kill you, his grandfather."

.

Tottering out,

Face drawn in shock and rage,

Returning home to Danae's sugar-sweet smile,

Only to throw her into a bronze cage,

.

Praying to the gods for aid,

Underground, trapped in her cruel cell,

Her goddess-like beauty attracted Zeus, who came to her in the form of gold glitter,

And within nine months time she had a baby, in her bronze hell,

.

Mother to _Perseus_

Avenger,

Or,

Destroyer,

.

Her father found out, and placed them in a chest,

Then threw them into the snarling sea,

They washed up on an island,

Danae vowing vengeance on he,

.

Freed from their wooden prison,

By Dictys the fisherman,

Brother of the king,

Polydectes, womanizer and madman,

.

Perseus grew up in the temple of Athena,

Learning how to fight,

And how to be as cunning as the goddess herself,

But never was he ignorant to his mother's plight,

.

Polydectes wanted Perseus gone,

The last thing keeping him from his bride,

He devised a plot,

To ensure Perseus died,

.

He made Perseus swear,

On the river Styx,

To retrieve the head of Medusa,

Using all of his snakelike tricks,

.

Perseus prayed to his father,

And was gifted a satchel

A helm of invisibility,

And dove-winged sandals, to speed his travel,

.

Given directions to find the Gray Sisters,

Three women who shared a single eye and tooth,

On their island, where many had met their demise,

Perseus held the eye and dagger-blade tooth in exchange for truth,

.

The location of the Gorgons,

And weapons, a razor-sharp sword and mirror-like shield,

With Athena's blessing,

For only the hero of the prophecy to wield,

.

Tossing the eye and tooth into a lake,

Perseus took to the sky,

Looking for the Gorgon's lair

Where, asleep, Medusa lie,

.

He entered the cave,

Spotting Medusa in his mirror,

Heavily pregnant,

Getting closer she slowly became clearer,

.

Brass talons and gold wings,

Vipers for hair,

Tusks jutting from her mouth,

Awakening out of nowhere,

.

Talons slicing the air to ribbons,

Wings flaring,

Snakes hissing,

Eyes glaring,

.

The blade whispers through the air,

_Thump _something wet rolls into Perseus' foot,

Dying snakes tugging at his sandals,

Her head, into the bag he put,

.

Opening his eyes, Perseus saw

Blood forming into swirling loops

A winged horse, fleeing, wings still flecked with blood,

A warrior with golden armor, Chrysaor moved with the grace of frontline troops,

.

Perseus fled, waking Medusa's sisters,

Who could not turn flesh to stone,

Yet were immortal,

Wanting Perseus to die for taking Medusa, leaving them alone,

.

He fled, and flew as far and fast as he could,

Coming to land on Africa, spotting a girl chained to a rock,

A princess, Andromeda,

About to be eaten by the sea monster, Cetus, from which all soldiers balk,

.

He used Medusa's head,

Holding it up for the monster to see,

And within moments Cetus was stone,

Dissolving into the sea,

.

He married Andromeda,

And returned home to see,

Polydectes and his mother being married,

And he screeched "I have the head, now let my mother go free!"

.

Polydectes refused so Perseus turned him to stone,

And made Dictys the king in his stead,

He flew home with his wife to Argos,

And became king, as Acrisius had fled,

.

Acrisius went to watch a discus throwing match,

And then Perseus stepped up, throwing his discus up and out,

The wind blew the discus at his head, killing him instantly,

And the prophecy was true, without a doubt.

.

The thing with prophecies,

Is that trying to prevent them from coming true,

Often,

Causes them to ensue.

.

(This happened to Acrisius, if he had simply let Danae find a human husband, Perseus would never have been born. If he had simply raised the boy, Perseus would not have achieved his physical prowess and thus not be participating in discus matches. If he had not went to the Oracle, he wouldn't have thrown Danae in a cell and Danae would never have met Zeus. If he was a decent human being, he would have lived. His self-preservation doomed him.)


End file.
